xp XP Service Pack poll

[Tarun 20]

Let's hear what you're running. :)

[greenknight 7]

Got SP3 shortly after it came out.

I can't imagine why anyone would be using less than SP2. We didn't even upgrade to XP until SP2 came out - Win2K worked just fine, and XP was a little shaky at first.

[0_0 1]

Curious, why are you asking this question? I have noticed more and more polls showing up and I figure site owners are asking for more than curiosity's sake. Many of the polls make sense, others seem strange, like this one, outdated IMO. Also, wouldn't the forum software determine all that, and wouldn't that info be in a log file somewhere - Firefox 4 on Windows XP w/SP2 - woops, did I just vote?

For Windows XP I think SP3 is a must! On this system I was short-sighted and partitioned the boot drive too small - I have no room. My VM has SP3 and if I do it over again I'll use my slipstreamed disk and install XPSP3 - otherwise 7.

[James_A 4]

If anyone is running anything other than Service Pack 3 for Windows XP, they're in dead trouble, because that's the only level still supported by Microsoft. Support for Service Pack 2 ended most of a year ago. (13 July 2010 to be precise).

If you are on Vista you had better be already up to Service Pack 2 on that, because Support for Vista Service Pack 1 ends shortly. Support for Vista with no Service Packs (i.e. RTM) ended over a year ago.

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[Eldmannen 1]

I have a hard disk running Windows XP, it has SP3.

But I never boot it.

I run Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal".

[George 0]

I tried upgrading to SP3 only to have it crash my system. That was about two years ago. Don't know if I should try again?

[Tarun 20]

XP SP3 is the latest and contains many hotfixes that were unreleased, along with some new features if I recall correctly. It's a highly recommended upgrade.

[James_A 4]

As I posted several months ago, if you are not running Service Pack 3 on XP, you are in big trouble, because you are not supported by Microsoft any more. Probably missing about a year of security updates, too.

Crashes on installing SP3 are due to:-

1. Being already infected with a virus or trojan, being a slave in a botnet, or having been rootkitted
   
2. Running an incompatible AV whilst trying to install SP3, particularly Norton/Symantec AV.
   

If you have the bandwidth available, on a broadband connection the safest way is to:

1. Download the full SP3 install file from the Microsoft Download Center *
   
2. Run a full AV scan to check for a clean computer & disinfect if anything is found.
   
3. Disconnect from the Internet
   
4. Turn off/Disable all AntVirus/AntiMalware (Norton, Spybot etc.) and third-party software Firewalls (Comodo, Outpost etc.)
   
5. Install the standalone SP3 and reboot
   
6. Reconnect to the Internet
   

PS: *See for direct download links if you can't find SP3 at the Microsoft Download Center

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